


Only Fools and Lunatics Fall in Love

by EchoResonance



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 17:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7766209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoResonance/pseuds/EchoResonance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Well, Niles never claimed to be sane. His past has taught him to expect the worst and not to bother hoping for better, so when Corrin is late coming home, his anxieties get the better of him and find him rushing out into the night. His past has also taught him, however, to cling to what little he has with both hands and never let it go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The full moon shone brightly that night, hung in the sky on a backdrop of deepest blue velvet scattered with thousands of glittering pinpricks of light. There was nary a cloud to be seen and no wind to speak of, and the ponds and springs were but flat mirrors. Nearby, an owl hooted. The camp was quiet and still, the silence permeated only by an occasional snore or sleep-heavy murmur. However, that wasn’t to say all were asleep.

Niles had been sitting at the window of their shared quarters since curfew had been called, gaze fixed on the main entrance to the camp with an unblinking stare that would make any reptile envious. His cloak was wrapped around his shoulders, though the room was too warm for it to be comfortable. His bow was slung across his lap, one gloved hand curled around it while the other grasped his knee. On his face he wore an impassive expression, one that would worry nobody that happened to enter and find him perched there; his brow was smooth, his lips a disinterested line.

_ It’s been hours, _ he thought, glancing at the dying fire in the hearth. Jakob had fixed it to be blazing when Corrin returned. But that had been before sunset.

He tried not to worry. It wouldn’t have been the first time Corrin had simply been late. She was the leader of a massive army; there were any number of things to keep her busy. Between battles, she had to take stock of the armory and the infirmary, work out details at the smithy, keep track of food and drink, make sure the soldiers were doing well… The list went on and on, and while Niles did at one time find their lack of alone time irksome and spent a fair amount of time resenting everything that kept her from him, he understood that it needed to be done. He understood that, in this time of war, Corrin couldn’t afford to shirk her duties for him, no matter how either of them might wish she could.

However, there was a fine line between busy and missing. The camp was silent, the stores and storage were closed down tightly, and the only people awake were those on watch--Kaze and Kagero, that night. But Corrin was nowhere to be seen.

He tried not to worry. It was something he convinced most people he never did. He tried to convince himself that she was just taking a walk, or maybe soaking in the hot spring. But then, if he really believed she was in the hot spring, he would have gone to meet her and see how steamy the situation might get for reasons completely separate from the water. He tried not to worry, but his mind didn’t seem to want to cooperate with his wants. A lifetime living on the streets, amongst the darkest and the dirtiest the world had to offer, had gifted Niles with a vivid imagination and no optimism to go along with it. 

His past, not for the first time, whispered terrors in his ears, hellish nightmares that would not let him rest easy. Some were memories: men crumpled and dying, left in the gutter by those stronger than them or those smarter, women crying, children wandering fearful and alone. Others were like these, but in those thoughts Corrin was the star. It was Corrin with a knife to her throat, being dragged away from her company silently. It was Corrin lying in an alleyway, too weak to move or even cry out for help. It was Corrin crying, begging, surrounded by strangers, faceless and disgusting men who took great pride in the most vile of acts.

He tried not to worry. His dragon princess was stronger than most. Even if something happened to her, she could defend herself. She could handle it. Corrin was as strong as she was kind, and she wouldn’t be overcome by common thugs.

But it had been hours.

Cursing under his breath, Niles finally rose to his feet. He’d waited far too long. If something had happened to her, it could have happened several times over in the time he’d spent waiting to see if she was simply preoccupied. It felt like he crossed the room in a single stride and he flung the door wide open, the dying candlelight from inside spilling onto the walkway. He didn’t bother to close the door; he hurried down the path, trying not to look concerned in case Kaze saw him. The last thing he needed was the ninja’s panicked concern and his reprimands for waiting so long before saying anything about the missing princess.

_ If there’s a man in this damn camp that isn’t in love with my wife, I’ll start praying every night before I go to bed, _ Niles thought, smug and annoyed in equal measure. He knew how many eyes followed Corrin, hearts not far behind, and he was as proud as he was confused that she had chosen him out of everyone to claim as her own. Naga knew she’d had far more appropriate suitors.

“Gods, if anything’s happened to her…” Niles growled as he slipped past the camp’s perimeter and into the wood. “I shouldn’t have waited so long, I  _ knew _ I should’ve gone looking for her after the first hour.”

His heart was in his throat, and the only reason his bow didn’t tremble in his hand was the iron grip he held it in. It hadn’t even occurred to him to bring a stave just in case she was injured, and he found himself hoping still more fervently that he was being irrational, that she was fine and he was letting his anxiety get the better of him. However, he didn’t have much hope to focus in any one direction, and so he still found himself hastening through the undergrowth in the direction of the lake she sometimes visited.

He burst out of the treeline and onto the pebbly shore moments later, though it felt like a lifetime, and fear closed his throat completely. In the darkness of night and the shadows of the trees it was hard to distinguish, but he thought he saw a dark shape slumped some way down the shoreline. Only a lifetime of learning better kept him from stumbling straight to the unknown shadow. Instead he made his stealthy way along the line of trees, knocking an arrow just in case as he prowled, a hunter with his eye fixed on unknown prey. The shape shifted slightly and let out a tiny noise, like a low groan, and Niles’ heart rate quickened. He eased his way down the shore now, his arrow dipping as he focused on sneaking onward unnoticed.

If he’d kept his weapon trained on the shape, he would have been fine. However, his bow fired harmlessly at the pebbles at the creature’s feet when it clambered upright and startled him. At the noise so near it, the beast--which was neither princess nor dragon--snarled and whipped around, and Niles felt his stomach flip as he made eye contact with the black, beady stare of a bear. It was small enough and the shadows deceiving enough to warrant mistaking it for a human figure, but as it rose to its hind legs Niles felt like kicking himself for making such a foolish mistake. Had he not been so blinded by panic, he would have realized the shape was all wrong, that the noises it made were distinctly inhuman.

As it was, all he could do was scramble backwards, feet tripping and slipping over the loose stones worn smooth by the elements. The bear snarled again and swiped at him with a massive paw, missing his face by inches before dropping back to all fours. He stumbled and fell on his backside, and he wanted to leap back to his feet at the same time that he wanted to loose an arrow at the approaching animal. He opted for finding his feet, but in the few seconds it took him to do that, the beast was on him, grunting and snarling. Niles barely had time to raise an arm in front of him to take the brunt of the blow the bear dealt him, and though he knew those vicious claws had sliced through several layers of flesh he couldn’t feel it just yet. He merely felt the warm wetness of his own blood soaking his shredded sleeve as he continued to try to put more distance between himself and his new friend.

“Damn,” he spat through grit teeth, cradling his now-useless arm in his good hand. “Guess this is what I get for having a heart, isn’t it?”

He had the nerve to smirk at the beast bearing down on him.

_ Ah, well, _ he thought, closing his eye and sighing wearily.  _ There are worst ways to go than looking for her. Hope she doesn’t miss me too much. _

Just when he was sure the bear would be on him, an unearthly shriek rent the still air, setting the hairs on the back of Niles’ neck and arms on end. The bear snorted, but no blow came. Niles opened his eye cautiously and was just in time to see a massive shape, easily twice as large as the bear, come hurtling out of the woods to his right, bearing down on the hulking creature that was already backing away from Niles. That cry split the night again as the tall, slender creature came to a halt between the bear and the Adventurer, tossing its head and snarling at the aggressor. The bear took one last look at Niles, then ducked its head and lumbered off into the trees.

“Figures,” Niles breathed, looking up at the dragon. “I come out to save you, and you end up saving me.”

The dragon ducked its head until it was level with Niles’ and made a soft, rumbling noise that could have been considered a purr. A rush of clean, cool air enveloped the creature and wrapped around Niles like a caress as its form changed, shrinking in size and shifting in stature. A moment later Corrin stood before him, long hair a tangle of starlight that she paid no heed to as she set her hands on his shoulders.

“Niles,” she said softly. “Can you get back to the camp?”

“We’re on a lakeshore alone at midnight, and that’s the first thing you ask?” Niles snorted. “Come now, Corrin, surely you can think of something better…?”

Odd, his body felt rather fuzzy. And warm. Corrin’s presence alone was often enough to make that happen, but they weren’t in particularly titillating circumstances. At least, Niles didn’t think they were. At his silence Corrin sighed.

“Come on,” she said, reaching for his left arm and pulling it around her slim shoulders. “I’ll help you.”

Niles smiled and draped himself over her, finding it funny that she thought he might need help with something as simply as walking. Still, he wasn’t going to complain. He did feel strangely heavy, and his arm in particular seemed to be made of lead. The relief of finding her, alive and quite unharmed, must have robbed him of what strength he still had after a long day of training. This relief had him turning to bury his nose in her hair. She smelled like the woods and a perfume that Camilla may have given her, something warm and sweet. 

_ Warm and sweet...how fitting, _ he mused.

“Niles, come on,” Corrin said, sliding an arm around his waist and tugging. “You’re hurt.”

_ Am I? _ he wondered, glancing down. There was something dark and wet staining the shredded remains of his right sleeve, dripping from his fingertips onto the forest floor. He tried to lift his arm to inspect, but unsurprisingly he found that he couldn’t. Dimly he seemed to recall raising it as the bear took a swipe at him.

“Did the bear do that?” he wondered. 

“Yes, now come  _ on _ !” Corrin said, and the panic in her voice finally penetrated Niles’ dazed state.

When she tugged him in the direction of camp he followed, though his feet wouldn’t listen to him properly and dragged in the fallen leaves and dirt. Nevertheless, he managed to move them forward, one small step at a time, and he allowed Corrin to guide him through the forest that seemed to have grown darker since he had first set out. 

“Niles, stay awake,” Corrin was saying frantically, her slim arm around his waist holding more of his weight than it should have been. 

_ I’m too heavy _ , Niles thought, and tried to put more weight on his own feet. His knees promptly buckled and he crashed to the ground, dragging Corrin with him in the process. She ended up sprawled across his chest, his good arm still half-slung around her shoulder and his injured arm splayed out at his side. They’d both managed to avoid landing on it.

“Niles?!” Corrin exclaimed, struggling to right herself. “Niles, are you alright?”

“Never been better, love,” he mumbled, trying to remember how to push himself up.

“C’mon, Niles, we’re almost there,” she coaxed, trying to pull him back to his feet.

It wasn’t working. His legs would no longer take his weight long enough to get him upright, and he was too dizzy to stand in any case. It was a similar feeling to the nights he’d whiled away in pubs, drinking til the bartender sent him and his empty pockets packing. It wasn’t bad at all. He didn’t mind. Though his vision was blurred, he could still make out Corrin hovering above him, fair skin glowing and her snowy hair glistening around her face like a halo of moonlight. Her lips were moving, but she didn’t seem to be saying anything. 

_ Glad you’re alright, _ he thought blearily, eye fluttering closed.  _ You’re safe...I’m glad… _


	2. Chapter 2

Awareness returned to Niles with the burning sensation of stave magic prickling throughout his arm. He groaned and opened his eye, waiting for the room to come into clearer focus. Standing over him was the young Hoshidan Princess, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed deeply. His gaze flicked over to the window, noting the first hints of the dawn’s gray light peaking over the windowsill. 

_ Why am I in the infirmary? _ he wondered.

He was quite familiar with the place--most of the soldiers were. The carefully spaced cots, the smell of herbs and salves, the rows of staves and rods along one side. If a soldier ended up in there, well, it was just another Tuesday night. But he hadn’t been in battle recently, so what purpose was his presence serving?

“Princess,” he mumbled, causing Sakura to jump several feet into the air. “What am I doing here?”

She turned brown eyes wide as saucers to him briefly before looking back at the festal in her hand, answering him as she worked her magic on an arm that he couldn’t remember injuring.

“Corrin f-found you maybe a-an hour ago,” she murmured. “She brought you h-here, said you w-were attacked by a b-bear. Y-your arm was hurt pretty b-badly.”

_ A bear? _ Niles thought. Then he remembered.

“Corrin? How is she?” he said, a little too sharply for Sakura. She jumped again and dropped her rod on Niles’ arm, which throbbed with the impact. He hissed in discomfort. 

“S-sorry!” she squeaked, hastily retrieving the tool. “My sister is fine. Y-you should be w-worried about yourself.”

“I’m fine,” he said, moving to sit up.

Suddenly a hand was planted on his chest, and though it wasn’t strong enough to keep him in place if he wanted to leave, it was surprisingly firm nonetheless. He looked up in surprise and met Sakura’s gaze, which hardened.

“She’s fine,” the young princess said again. “You c-can see her when w-we’re done here.”

Bemused, Niles allowed her to push him back onto the caught, though he did quirk an eyebrow at the timid girl who apparently wasn’t quite so timid. Her cheeks flushed at his expression and she hastily looked away again, but he would remember that determined look from just moments before.

“You’re quite as strong-willed as your bull-headed sister,” he noted, wincing as an arc of heat shot up his arm. Healing might be handy, but the process was hardly comfortable.

“Who, Corrin?” Sakura said, shocked. “Oh, I don’t think so… I could n-never do all the things she’s d-done.”

“Maybe,” Niles said, wishing he could shrug without disrupting the healer. “But the thing about strength of character is that it shows in many different ways.”

“What do you mean?” Sakura wondered.

Niles looked up at the ceiling.

“Couldn’t tell you,” he said. “Just that even if you couldn’t make big decisions like Corrin, that doesn’t mean you’re less brave. Sometimes it’s smaller things that say the most. Subtle things.”

“L-like what?” Sakura said, eyes sparkling.

“Like...healing people even if you’re scared or intimidated by them. You don’t have to heal everyone--and you definitely don’t have to heal your enemies. Yeah,” he added at her flushed cheeks, “I’ve noticed. I used to think that people like you and your sister, who try to be kind to everyone, were just foolish and naive, but...now I think it’s one of your greatest strengths.”

Sakura said nothing, but her lips curved up slightly.

“And...attending war meetings, even though you detest violence, because you still want to know exactly what’s going on,” Niles continued. Talking helped distract him from the healing. “You could turn your back on it, just deal with the aftermath and avoid the dirtiest parts, but you don’t.”

They lapsed into silence and Niles let it be. If he knew the girl at all, he knew she would think on his words, especially with the high regard she held Corrin in. Even if she didn’t believe that she was very like her older sister, she would certainly like to think they shared some similarities. 

“I think you’re s-strong, too,” the girl said suddenly. Niles glanced at her, but she was focused on his arm. 

“Do you?” he said, lips curling devilishly. “Do tell, Princess.”

“Just… H-having the views you do...not being quick to t-trust people,” she started. “But you still fight with us all every d-day. Y-you still help us, and y-you let us help you. I th-think that’s very brave, for a man who doesn’t t-trust easily.”

Niles blinked.

“And I’m--I’m glad C-Corrin has someone like you,” she said. “S-someone who tries so h-hard for someone else’s sake. Even if you don’t admit it.”

It was a rare day when Niles was left speechless, and by the mute princess of all people. He felt his lips curling against his will and he looked back at the ceiling, feeling an inexplicable lump rise in his throat.

“I think your arm is fine,” Sakura said, stepping back.

At last the tingling feeling faded, leaving his arm feeling instead uncomfortably numb. The feeling would wear off soon enough, but it was hard trying to flex his muscles and his fingers at first. Everything seemed to work fine, and his skin had come together flawlessly where the bear had ripped through it like paper. There wasn’t even a scar to remember the wound by, though there were plenty others criss-crossing his body to make up for the missing one. Magical healing had its uses, but he also found it a bit unnerving.

“Thank you, Princess,” he said, sitting up and flinging his legs over the side of the bed. “May I go now?”

“Yes,” she said primly. “I w-would suggest going back to your quarters for, ah,  _ rest _ .”  _ And to reassure Corrin you didn’t die from bloodloss _ .

Niles was left to infer the last bit, but he was sure they both understood what was meant. Sakura curtsied to him and he in turn bowed at the waist before turning and hurrying out of the infirmary. 

People were just starting to rouse for the day, shuffling blearily to the mess hall or else waiting outside friends’ tents while they got dressed. A few such as Prince Xander and the Hoshidan ninja Saizo were already training and the outlaw Shura was setting up the archery targets, but Niles strode right past them toward his quarters, heart pounding harder the closer he got. 

He wasn’t quite at the door when it swung open and his princess came barrelling out with a conspicuous lack of grace or poise to fling herself at him. Laughing, he caught her around the waist, lifting her up while she cradled his head in the curve of her neck. There, he caught a whiff of that perfume again, now recognizing it as vanilla and lily.

“Thank the gods you’re alright,” Corrin murmured, pulling back and taking Niles’ face in her hands. He placed her gently back on her own bare feet. “What were you  _ thinking _ , taking on a  _ bear _ ?”

Niles glanced around, taking note of the soldiers who had stopped nearby and were trying to inconspicuously eavesdrop. He shook his head and pulled Corrin’s hands from his jaw, holding them in the space between them.

“Inside, okay?” he said softly. 

She pressed her lips together and nodded, turning and hurrying back into their quarters with one of his hands still firmly clasped in one of hers. When the door closed behind him, they moved to the bed and sat on the edge. Corrin turned so that she could lay her legs across his lap and lean against his shoulder, and he slid an arm around her waist and sat his other across her thighs.

“So, the bear?” she prompted.

“I thought it was you,” he said. He hastily cut across her outraged intake of breath. “From a distance and in the dark, all I could see was a shape on the bank. You--you hadn’t come home, so I...I thought something might have happened. I wasn’t...wasn’t thinking straight, I suppose.”

“Oh, Niles,” Corrin sighed, shifting closer. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you, honest, but I never expected you to come after me alone in the middle of the night. I thought you would already be asleep.”

“A fine excuse,” he snorted. “What were you even doing out there so late? And why couldn’t you tell me or take me with you?”

Corrin hesitated, and a cold slither of doubt coiled in Niles’ chest. It whispered  _ do you really want to know? Can you handle it? _ Had she been avoiding him? Had he done something to upset her, or had she simply grown tired of him?

“I, um,” she started, breaking him out of his dangerous downward spiral. “Okay, please don’t be angry with me, but I was, um, looking for…”

She mumbled something too low for him to hear.

“What was that?” he wondered, frowning.

“My--my ring,” she whispered forlornly. “On the march back from the last campaign, I--gods, Niles, I think I lost it. I got back home and realized I wasn’t wearing it, so I went back to look for it. I’m so sorry, Niles, I’m so, so sorry.”

Niles wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.

“Your...ring?” he echoed. 

“Yes,” she answered in a small voice.

“As in...your wedding ring?” he checked.

“Yes.”

“The wedding ring I gave you.”

“Mhm…”

Laughter burst from him so suddenly that Corrin jumped, but when she tried to pull away to get a look at his face he clutched her tighter, tears of mirth gathering in his eye.

“Corrin,” he gasped between chuckles. “Corrin, love, your ring is being set with a new stone in the village! We took it there two days ago, remember?”

Corrin was silent for a moment. Then she let out a wail of mortification and thrashed in Niles’ arms, trying to squirm free, but he wouldn’t allow it.

“Let  _ go _ !” she exclaimed, hiding her face in her palms. “This is so humiliating.”

“Is it? Because I find it rather endearing,” Niles teased, kissing the backs of her hands.

“You almost died looking for me while I was looking for something that wasn’t even  _ lost _ !” she shouted. “What if--what if you  _ had _ , and I--gods…”

This brought Niles up short. Taking advantage of his surprise, Corrin jerked free and leaped to her feet at once, putting several feet between her and the bed and turning her back to him to hide her face. Cautiously Niles rose from the bed as well and moved to stand behind her, smoothing his hands gently over her shoulders.

_ Gentle _ was new. He’d only recently learned how to be gentle, and it still only really worked with Corrin, but that was all he needed, so he considered it quite the achievement. A shuddering sigh left her at his touch, and he moved closer, pressing his chest against her back and sliding his fingers slowly down her lean arms, encircling her wrists before curling around her hands.

“Corrin,” he murmured into her hair. “I apologize for scaring you, and for laughing. I assure you I’m fine. I just didn’t expect…”

_ Didn’t expect anyone to fear images of my corpse dancing in their head _ . He kept those particular words to himself, sure they would only upset Corrin more, but they were honest. For all he feared finding her wounded or dead, and even more for being the cause of either case, never once had he thought that she might harbor all these fears for him as well. He had never expected to be loved at all. Certainly not so deeply or fully as Corrin did. It was enough to bring him dangerously close to tears.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he sighed. “Embarrass you, of course, but I am sorry.”

She didn’t speak, but after a moment she slowly crossed her arms over her torso, bringing his along with them. Taking the invitation, he released her hands and wrapped his arms more tightly around her, leaning his head down to feather kisses along the column of her neck. She shivered and turned her head, lips gracing his temple.

“I love you,” she murmured.

He hesitated.

_ Love _ was new, too. Just as foreign, just as exclusive to Corrin, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way. She was the only one who could have made him feel this way, not whole exactly, but okay with the pieces that he was in. Because of her, he had come to understand that his broken past didn’t define him and it made him no less of a person, and though he hardly felt worthy of such love he was nothing if not greedy. Whether he deserved it or not, he was going to cling to it and lap up every drop he was given like a man stricken with thirst would drink a river dry.

“And I love you,” he whispered back hoarsely.

Corrin turned in his arms, hands moving to caress his neck and guide him down; he went without a fuss, and as their lips slotted together, he thought that he could forego all of the excitement in the world if it meant he could have his fierce little dragon. Once, he would have called any person who told him he would fall in love a lunatic. 

_ Well, _ he thought, clutching her more tightly to him.  _ Call me crazy, then. _


End file.
